Sometimes when one reviews many, many albums one gets into a groove with certain record companies and note when they are on a roll. For instance, at the time of writing this review (mid February 2012) Peter Pardo thinks that Frontiers Records are on fire and I am of the same opinion about Pitch Black Records which is based in Nicosia, Cyprus. In 2011 the label released a series of top notch yet stylistically different records. Arrayan Path unleashed the epic Ira Imperiam, Illnath came up with the tremendous melodic death metal of Third Act in the Theatre of Madness and a year ago came the unsung but brilliant power metal of Emerald Sun's Regeneration. Now we have Hard Riot from Germany who suggest that their main influences are AC/DC, Scorpions and Metallica and I'd suggest that it is the AC/DC stylings which are at the forefront of their sound.

Hard Riot have provided Pitch Black with a another winner and the strength of Living on a Fast Lane is in the quality of the songs and within the crystal clear production from Vagelis Maranis who on what must be a tiny budget has made Hard Riot sound every bit as good as AC/DC on their last outing. Other than the slightly tiresome "Turn on the Lights" this is a very fine release and shows that independent labels from well outside the traditional music industry bases are more than capable fo finding and nurturing new talent.

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